Yudi Setyaningsih
, Language Use and Communication Skills
113
LANGUAGE USE AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
Yudi Setyaningsih
Universitas Ma Chung Malang, East Java
Abstract:
Speaking and listening skills to flight attendants having
international routes are very important to support their performance when
dealing with passengers. The International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) in 1951 and 2004 issued an announcement that English became the
compulsory language used for international aviation. Moreover, the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), in 1994, required flight attendants to
understand sufficient English to communicate, coordinate, and perform all
related safety duties on board. This article suggests some methods in
teaching English for pre-service flight attendants. As speaking and listening
play very important roles in the workplace of flight attendants, role play
and speaking practice in the classroom can be very useful for pre-service
flight attendants when they are still in the training center. Role plays with
topics related with the real work situation such as boarding, seating,
announcement, meals and drink service, personal approach as well as
farewell should be provided for pre-service flight attendants together with
pronunciation practice. To increase the effectiveness of the English course,
additional English materials with the help of technology such as videos on
airlines safety demonstration, announcement, and other recordings related
with the use of polite languages as well as in-flight vocabulary could be used
to train the listening skill. The rapid development in technology can also be
an advantage in equipping flight attendants with materials in cultural
issues. Flight attendants need cultural sensitivity when dealing passengers
with different cultural backgrounds; therefore, increasing their cross-
cultural understanding is very important.
Keywords
: Flight attendants, language use, communication skills
Speaking and listening skills to flight attendants having international
routes are very important to support their performance when dealing with
passengers. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 1951 and
2004 issued an announcement that English became the compulsory language
used for international aviation. Moreover, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA),
in 1994, required flight attendants to understand sufficient English to
communicate, coordinate, and perform all related safety duties on board. The two
organizations for aviation have issued an important aspect for flight attendants,
that is, English proficiency. World-class airlines set a high-standard of English
proficiency. Strong English communication skills are important for flight
attendants, regardless of their native language and the stage of their career.
Lingua Scientia
, Volume 7, Number 2, November 2015
114
Greater proficiency in English, together with cultural sensitivity can help
prevent difficult (and potentially dangerous) situation.
Flight attendants, especially, those who work for international routes
usually meet passengers from all over the world. To handle their business, these
passengers have to speak an international language usually spoken worldwide,
English. This means, flight attendants must be competent in English so that
they can handle every possible situation which might happen during their flight-
duty and off-duty. Before flight attendants could come to the real working
condition, they have to learn how to speak English well during their time in the
training center. When they are trained in the training center, they have a
precious moment to practice and maximize their English.
In this article, we are going to look at some of the language that can be
used when dealing with passengers. The language that is used is mostly for
making suggestions and advice to passengers on board, handling problematic
situations that can occur during flight as well as some communication
techniques. A flight attendant will be expected to have information about the
origin and destination and to give information clearly and thoughtfully. The
problematic situation can occur during flight. This could involve dealing with
intoxicated passengers or uncooperative people in the air. As a flight attendant
on a commercial airlines having international route, he/she will come across a
large mix of people from all backgrounds and cultures. Giving advice to
passengers after they have asked a question requires a friendly, approachable
attitude. Even if flight attendants are busy they need to show that they are
happy to speak to the passenger with good body language and posturing. All
competences in communication are considered as sociolinguistic competence
where some competences in linguistic, social and cultural knowledge, and rules
of discourse.
This article also suggests some methods in teaching English for pre-service
flight attendants. As speaking and listening play very important roles in the
workplace of flight attendants, role plays and speaking practice in the classroom
can be very useful for pre-service flight attendants when they are still in the
training center. Role plays with topics related with the real work situation such
as boarding, seating, announcement, meals and drink service, personal approach
as well as farewell should be provided for pre-service flight attendants together
with pronunciation practice. To increase the effectiveness of the English course,
additional English materials with the help of technology such as videos on
airlines safety demonstration, announcement, and other recordings related with
the use of polite languages as well as in-flight vocabulary could be used to train
the listening skill. The materials can be downloaded from the Internet. The rapid
development in technology can also be an advantage in equipping flight
attendants with materials in cultural issues. Flight attendants need cultural
sensitivity when dealing passengers with different cultural backgrounds. Using
computers and the Internet to download materials, show videos, or even conduct
skype or teleconference with other parties from different cultures could be done
in the classroom to increase cross-cultural understanding.
Yudi Setyaningsih
, Language Use and Communication Skills
115
LANGUAGE USE
English language has been playing an important role in the international
communication and has become the most widely spoken language in the world.
Indeed, it has become one of five official languages used in The United Nations
Organization. English has become the bridging language among nations
worldwide. Persons with different nationalities will automatically speak English
whenever they meet. English is a lingua franca which connects the
communication and relations among nations. English has played as a bridging
language which enables them to exchange their ideas. Specific occupation
requires one to use language which is relevant to their job. The specialized
language functions use relevant occupational vocabulary, grammar, and
pronunciation.
Language has various functional uses. Basturkmen (2006) proposes four
language functional uses which are used frequently within today’s English for
Specific Purposes course. The four uses are speech acts, genres, social interaction
and specific terms within a particular discipline. The concept of speech acts is
the use of language which is concerned with the intentions of the speaker or the
writer (i.e. requesting, ordering, reporting, and apologizing). Hatch (1992) in
Basturkmen (2006) adds that the speech acts can be classified to directives (i.e.
asking, insisting, requesting), commisives (i.e. offering, threatening, promising),
representatives (i.e. believing, denying, reporting), declaratives (i.e. claiming,
declaring, publishing) and expressives (i.e apologizing, welcoming, liking). It
leads to the role of pragmatics and socio-pragmatics. Then the concept of genres
is more specific than the previous concept.
Basturkmen (2006) states that “genre theory seeks to explain the texts
used by groups or communities by reference to the functions of the groups or
communities and their outlook on the world”. For instance, a research proposal
in physics is different with research proposal in accounting. Then a social work
report differs from financial report. The third is the concept of the language use
based on the social interaction. Basturkmen (2006) explains that the concept
concerns with the way the speaker or the writer interacts strategically with his
or her interlocutor or reader. Then the last concept is specific terms within a
particular discipline. “This type of description is concerned with word or
structure choice, which words or structures are commonly chosen, and the
meanings or uses they have in specific disciplines, professions, or workplace
environments” (Basturkmen, 2006).
Language functions also highlight sociolinguistic competence involving
some ways of using language appropriately in a given situation, given the
setting, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating.
Sociolinguistic competence asks: Which words and phrases fit this setting and
this topic? How can I express a specific attitude (courtesy, authority,
friendliness, respect) when I need to? How do I know what attitude another
person is expressing? Many types and variations of communication and messages
need to be delivered in a clear and comprehensive way. Setyaningsih (2009) in
her thesis on developing a communicative syllabus for pre-service flight
attendant mentioned that speaking and listening skills are needed as the main
key to be a successful flight attendant is a good communication. When
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, Volume 7, Number 2, November 2015
116
conducting the needs analysis involving flight attendants, ex-flight attendants
and passengers, the findings in her research showed that speaking materials are
considered very important in the teaching of English. Foreign passengers in
international as well as domestic flights use English when communicating with
the flight attendants and this makes all aspects in speaking skill such as
fluency, intonation, speed, and voice clarity become very important to be learned.
This also deals with announcement made by flight attendants in welcoming their
passengers and conducting flight safety demonstration.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is unavoidable in human being’s life. People communicate
with others directly as well as indirectly. In communication, there is always
delivering and exchanging ideas to one another. The exchanges of ideas may give
us a lot of information; on the other hand, the ideas can be shared with others.
People communicate in most of their life and the ability of communicating is
innate.
A harmonious communication does not occur automatically. It demands a
good means of communication. Here, a language to bridge the communication is
needed. Language, as stated by Crystal in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of
Language (1997) is a system which mediates in highly complex way; between the
universe meaning and the universe of sound. There is usually a speaker and a
hearer to make communication exists. Language enables the speaker to
transform configuration of meaningful sound, and it enables the hearer to
understand the sound produced by the speaker and he/she can transform these
sound into a reasonable script. In other words, a thought in the speaker’s mind is
encoded through a language, which is then decoded by the hearer, so that the
thought ends up in his/her mind.
In addition, Crystal (1997) mentioned that communication is a crucial
factor in our social life and it becomes the basic of our social life. It means that
people cannot live normally as full human being without communication.
Communication is intended for various reasons: get in touch with others to reach
specific goal, and to assist others achieve their goals. Other intentions are to
negotiate and work toward the accomplishment of a set of mutually constructed
purposes. People can also continually develop and manage their personal
identities, relationship, and multicultural relationship through communication.
Flight attendants must be effective communicators. Their duties include
advising passengers on proper emergency procedures, and conveying the
information in a clear manner. They need to be good listeners to understand
what passenger requests. In emergencies, flight attendants issue instructions in
a concise, intelligible manner. It may be necessary at times for flight attendants
to relay information to the flight crew, and they need to present the information
plainly and with minimal distractions (Joyner, 2015). Some tips for flight
attendants
on
how
to
communicate
better
are
taken
from
http://www.newflightcrew.com
. The article mentions about the single most
important skill required by a flight attendant, they are verbal and non-verbal
communication. Verbal uses words while non-verbal uses eye contact, dress and
look, gestures and body language, posture, smell and facial expressions.
Yudi Setyaningsih
, Language Use and Communication Skills
117
Verbal communication involves tone of voice and choice of words. A lot of
things can be interpreted from a person’s tone of voice. It means that speaking
with passengers need different tone of voice compared with speaking to the
colleagues. While choice of words include avoiding sarcastic words but use
natural, friendly, and professional words instead. For non-verbal communication,
eye contact is important as it shows an interest to what passengers say. Staring
is not advisable as in some cultures, staring is considered very rude. Gestures
and body language are two other elements needed more attention as these two
relate with cultures. A flight atendant must be careful in using gestures and
body language as they can be interpreted differently with various cultures.
SUGGESTED TEACHING METHODS
According to Setyaningsih (2009), in the findings of her study on
developing syllabus for flight attendants, the skill that obtains the most
attention in the communicative syllabus is speaking. This skill is useful for
flight attendants when dealing with passengers. Fluency in speaking also plays
an important role in handling all kinds of communication problems happen in-
flight. Speaking skill includes the clarity of in-flight announcement, giving
opinions, and giving clearer explanations to what happens during flight. Another
skill is listening that also plays important part in handling the passengers. Here,
passengers ask flight attendants to give full attention to them by listening
actively to them to avoid giving wrong instruction.
When it comes to the teaching and learning in the training center, the
result of the study by Setyaningsih (2009) shows that speaking also becomes the
main objective in the instructional objective for most training centers. Other
skills also obtain some attention but not much. Role plays and speaking practice
are used mostly as the method for teaching but other methods such as lecturing,
question and answer, demonstration, and modeling could be implemented.
Teaching media or aids are really needed in teaching the pre-service flight
attendants. In the training centers, teaching media are ranging from audio-
video, LCD projectors, computers, CD/DVD players, realia (trolleys for serving,
plates, cup and saucer, boarding pass, safety-demo kits, etc.).
In order to increase the students’ abilities in speaking, some useful
expressions in speaking with the passengers are given to initiate dialogues
created suitable for the condition. The speaking skill will be given in dialogues
representing working conditions such as 1) Boarding and Seating, 2) Before
Take-off, 3) Meals and Drinks Service, 4) Socializing/Personal Service, 5) Sales
on Board, 6) Before/After Landing and Parting, 7) Flight Safety Procedure, and
8) Announcement. For listening skill, the students are given materials such as
recordings of real announcement from flight attendants, DVD containing films
for flight safety procedure, and films on real working conditions from airlines.
The listening materials will present students with real life speaking and some
examples of dialogs from various accents as those students will meet many
people coming from different places and nationality around the world.
The lexical contents of the communicative syllabus concern with
vocabulary related to the field of passenger service, airlines, and aviation terms
and a small percentage of general English. This is intended to familiarize them
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, Volume 7, Number 2, November 2015
118
with terms in offering, requesting, apologizing, and asking permission. While
some aviation terms are given as these flight attendants are working inside the
airplane and they must have knowledge on airplanes, its general system, and
how some parts work. Airlines terms will give knowledge for students to deal
with airport, ticketing system, check-in, boarding, etc. The following paragraphs
suggest some expressions used by flight attendants when communicating with
passengers. The expressions are for requesting, asking permissions, offering
something, apologizing, and other expressions used onboard from boarding to
after landing stage (taken from English for Cabin Crew by Sue Ellis and Lewis
Landsford, 2014).
Boarding and seating
Welcome aboard! Good morning / afternoon / evening
Greeting passengers
May I see your boarding pass, please?
“May”
is
used
to
request
permission in a polite way with
“I” as the subject
Could
you
put
this
bag
in
the
overhead
compartment?
“Could” is used for a polite
request
with
“you”
as
the
subject
Could you please fasten your seatbelt?
“Would” is also a very polite
way of suggesting or requesting
something
Would you like some candies, sir/ma’am?
Would you mind sitting in the window seat?
“Would you mind + verb-ing as
the preferred
alternative
to
“Could you…”
Before take-off
Would you care for
May I offer you
Would you like
a sweet
a drink
a newspaper
a pen
a pillow
some champagne
a blanket
slippers
games
for your ears
with
our
compliments
for your comfort
Sir/
madam
?
Meals and Drink Service
We’d like to serve you drinks and snacks
as quickly as possible
“We’d like: we would like”
Would you like fish or chicken?
“Would you like + noun”
Anything to drink?/what would you like to
drink?
Both expressions are polite and can be
used when offering something
Here you go/here you are
The
expressions
when
handing
in
something but “here you go” is more
informal
Socializing/personal service
Yudi Setyaningsih
, Language Use and Communication Skills
119
Are you feeling better now, sir/ma’am?
Asking passenger’s condition
Can I help you, sir/ma’am?
Offering a help
Did you call, sir/ma’am?
Assuring something
Is everything alright?
Checking certain condition
I do apologize
I’m afraid not. I’m not allowed to do that
Politely denying the request
I can’t promise anything but I’ll see what I
can do
Acknowledging a request and offering a
course of action
Sales on board
Would you like to see/have a look at/buy
Making offers
Certainly. But I’ll have to give you your
change in dollars
Talking about change
I’m glad you like it. Here you are
Showing duty free items
That’s 22,000 yen, sir
Saying prices with currency
Before/After Landing and Parting
We will keep you update of any changes
Keeping passengers informed
We will be landing in Cengkareng shortly
Explaining what will happen
Welcome to Juanda airport
After landing greeting
Please take anything of value with you
Reminding passengers
Thank you for flying with us and good bye
Farewell
Flight safety procedure
We’ll be diverting to Denpasar airport
Pull the mask towards your face
Giving information and advice
Because the air pressure is too low
Giving a reason
There’s nothing to worry/concerned about
Reassuring the passenger
Can you switch it off, please?
Asking for a cooperation
I strongly advice you to…/I suggest you to
…
Advice
That’s not allowed
You can’t use …
Explaining rules and regulations
If you do not cooperate, this will…
Warning
CONCLUSION
The airline business is highly competitive nowadays. Every leading airlines
requires professional personnel to provide professional service. Due to the
specification of flight attendants’ duties, communication between flight
attendants and passengers must be clear and understandable. In order to be able
to compete with other international airlines, Indonesian flight attendants flying
international routes must have high-level of English proficiency and
communication skills that enable them to serve passengers on board and ensure
their safety. The flights will run smoothly if flight attendants master those two
things together with other abilities in cabin practice, some paperwork for
completing documents, problem solving, and quick action if problems appear.
The training for pre-service flight attendants play very important roles as
this is the time flight attendants are introduced with many things dealing with
the real working environment. Along with good preparation in the training, the
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120
instructors must also master subjects given to the flight attendants. English and
communication classes must be given more attention during the training with
more practices in speaking, listening, and communication skill with a touch of
cultural sensitivity. Some useful phrases dealing with passengers could be
taught to flight attendant students so that they understand what passengers.
The ability to understand passengers need to be equipped with cross-cultural
understanding so there will not be misunderstanding leading to an uneasy
condition during the flight.
REFERENCES
Basturkmen, H. (2006).
Ideas and Options in English for Specific Purposes
.
London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Crystal, D. (1997). The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. 2nd ed. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, S. & Landsford, L. (2014).
English for Cabin Crew
.
Express Series
. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), (1994). ANPRM Notice no. 94-11, 59 FR
18456.
Hatch, E. (1992).
Discourse and Language Education
. Cambridge University
Press.
Joyner, J. (2015).
Personal Qualities of a Flight Attendant
. Demand Media.
http://work.chron.com
(accessed 9 August 2015)
Setyaningsih, Y. (2009).
Developing A Communicative English Syllabus for Pre-
service Flight Attendant Training
. An unpublished thesis, The State
University of Malang.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).(2004).
Manual on the
Implementation of ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements First edition.
